Jan + Feb in Ragonia (2020)

Hello hello hello my darling patrons and buddies! It's been SO LONG since I've shared one of these standard-type update newsletter deals. For almost a year I wrote one of these every week, and now it feels like once in a blue moon. 

I'm so happy to be writing to you all from such a nice place in my year. In November and December, I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed from the holiday craziness, and in January I was stressed because I felt like I wasn't getting any work done. Now, in late February I feel like I'm finally starting to settle in that nice balance that is my overall goal to achieve in 2020. On top of that, Seattle is getting some peeks of spring after one of the rainiest Januarys on record, and I am feeling good, you guys.

To start this update, I want to give an enormous welcome to the FORTY-EIGHT NEW PATRONS who have joined us in December, January, and February! Welcome welcome welcome, friends! You folks have absolutely blown my mind with your generous support! I am so happy to share that thanks to your pledges I am able to consistently cover my biggest monthly expense, my half of the rent for my Seattle apartment. The amount of creative freedom and peace of mind this stability gives me can't be overstated. The last two years have felt like scrambling up a gravelly mountain, constantly afraid of sliding back down to the bottom, but now I finally feel like I'm standing on solid ground. You are making an active difference in my life, and I can't thank you enough.

So now that I've told you just how much I love you, let's get into the world of Ragonia in January and February 2020!

Book Illustration Sample!

I kicked off last year with a few big exciting 'Possible Projects" that I ended up not being chosen for, so I've learned to not get too excited when someone emails me with a proposal. Lots and lots of jobs fall through before they start. It's all good!

That said, I may be going into the next year with one of these types of big projects actually working out! In January I was emailed by a local publishing company looking for an illustrator for a middle grade (ages 8-12) collection of biographies, to be published next year. They paid me to create a sample spread of what my vision for the project might look like, and I spent a couple of days this month putting it together for them. Buddies, if this project goes through it will be my absolutely biggest client job yet, and will be something I'll be working on for the next year or so. I'll have a final answer by next month, and will know how much I'll be allowed to share with you all! I'm nervous and excited and confident and intimidated. But what no matter what happens, what an exciting start to the year!

Twitch Live-Streaming!

As part of my 2020 goal to DO MORE PERSONAL ART, DAMNIT, I've started streaming on Twitch! If you haven't heard, I had a hard time last year doing any art at all outside of commissions and client work. I found it hard to value making art outside of something that was going to make me money quickly, and I really feel like my skill and creativity started to suffer. Live-streaming on Twitch has helped me focus AND loosen up, get in the habit of drawing, and gave me a great sense of connection and community by letting me interact with such sweet and funny people.

Learning about this new platform has been a fun mini project, and has also given me a bit of an outlet for my former theater/performing kid desires. I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with my Twitch, but it's been fun playing around. If you want to watch my Twitch streams, follow me over there, and keep an eye on my Instagram for updates about streaming times.

(Two drawings that I worked on during live-streams: fan art of characters from Critical Role, my favorite Twitch stream!)

The Cutest Logo Design!!

A fun little project I was commissioned for this January was this sweetest logo for a new local company, an indoor dog park/bar, where people can get a beer while their dogs run around and play. Perfect for the rainy Seattle winters when no one wants to go outside but everyone still loves beer. 

Clockwise from top left: The 4 thumbnail sketches that I offered the client, the chosen sketch, the final design, and the final with requested color adjustments. Sketched in Procreate with my iPad and the Apple Pencil, final vector design created with Affinity Designer.

Peddler Keep the Pint Night (Again!)

My favorite local brewery contacted me this January to see if I wanted to participate in another Keep the Pint Night for February, and I jumped on it! Peddler Brewery has a fun monthly event where they pay local artists to print their design on a beer glass, then allow the artist to sell their art during the event if they wish! Last July I had a great time selling at the event, so I was happy to participate again.

I tried to make a design that could relate to the fruit and veg design I made last year, and could also be turned into other products for Ragonia as well. Selling at the event was my first tabling event of the year, and I was so happy to see some patrons and friends, and to get to chat with people about art while selling my art and drinking a beer.

Seattle-area artists, definitely consider sending in a design to this awesome event! Check out the specifications here!

Doodle Portraits!

Since I was still feeling pretty emotionally hungover from the holiday business in January, I decided not to open my standard commissions for Valentine's Day like I have in the past. (In fact, I might not open them at all this year, but we'll see, won't we...) But I did decide to open my donation doodles in early February, for a little quick extra income. For $15 per character donated to my Ko-Fi, I did a 5-minute digital doodle portrait. Since they're much cheaper than my $100+ portraits, they're much faster, there's no back and forth over email, and people seem very happy with them. It's also a great way to get back into drawing, practice drawing quickly, and to let myself be sillier and looser with the drawings. Win win win win win!

(Extra thank you to my patrons that ordered a Doodle Portrait!!)

NON-ART LIFE: Cozy Cabin Vacation!

Ahh, a vacation! A trip that's not for business or to visit family! I've been dreaming since last winter of taking a trip to a cabin in the woods, with no internet or wifi, to relax in nature with my sweet partner Zach. In the first week of February we finally took ourselves on this vacation, for such a fitting start to a year where I focus on balancing my personal and work life.

I found a cabin on one of the nearby islands on the misty Washington Coast, a quick 1.5 hour drive. We brought books, drawing materials, and no-fuss meals.

When we arrived to the secluded cabin in the mossy woods, a light hail/snow started falling, and two bald eagles started their high whistles from a nearby tree. It was like nature saying: welcome to the woods, baby. 

I grew up in fairly rural areas, in the coastal Virginia countryside. Our childhood vacations were usually camping in the Shenandoah National Park or Virginia beaches. Often I don't realize how much I was missing spending time outside of the city until I take a trip like this and feel absolutely revitalized. We ate our easy tasty meals, drank wine and beer and hot chocolate and sparkling water, we walked on the beach and through the woods. We played cards and sketched and sat in front of the fire reading Art & Fear.

I feel like a lot of you could tell that I was getting really frayed by the end of 2019. I simultaneously felt so busy throughout the year AND felt like there was no way I was overworking myself because I spent 'so much time' being distracted and scrolling social media! I would feel so tired on a Thursday and spend the whole day unintentionally watching random Youtube videos, and then I'd be disappointed in myself and instead work through the weekend, which meant by midweek I'd be tired and frustrated again. 

It's hard to say I was 'burnt-out' because I always feel like I'm too lazy to be allowed to be burnt-out. I suppose either way it doesn't matter because my creativity was tanked. And it's hard to have an art business without the art.

That's why my focus for the year is balance. I need my creativity to thrive alongside my business. I need to schedule times like this cabin vacation, to unplug and play and rest. Even if it's just not looking at my emails or social media on the weekends. I need to say no to projects and markets that aren't worth my time. I've started already, and I'm feeling so much better.

First Tattoo!

On a different note, as part of this balance of work and personal, I finally achieved a personal goal that I've dreamed of for years and got my first tattoo. I've been wanting to get tattoos since college, but always put it off because I didn't have much money. I always told myself I'd get my first with my first paycheck as an adult, but then I kept pushing the goalpost further and further back. 

Finally in January, my former coworker, friend, (and patron, Kaitie!) came back to visit Seattle and had exactly the type of tattoo I wanted for myself, a botanical style bee on her inner arm. She recommended the sweetest, local, also-vegan, female tattoo artist, Emily Hanzal, with a price that was much more affordable than I realized! A little more than two weeks ago I finally got my first tattoo.

I know tattoos don't have to mean anything, but to me, the bee represents my time at Art College in Savannah, GA. Our college mascot was a bee, but aside from school pride, the symbol of the bee has always resonated with me. To me, it means hard work, community, and connection to the natural world. The tattoo also feels like a commitment to myself and to what I know is important and good to me, even if other people don't agree. It feels like the most wonderful perfect gift to myself and my life as an artist, and I'm filled with joy and pride every time I look at it.

So that's plenty about me for now, my friends. We'd all love to hear from you! 

• What have you been up to at the start of this new decade? Any cool new projects?
• What do you do to rejuvenate yourself? What do you do to prevent burn-out in your own career?
• What have meaningful gifts (physical, spiritual, emotional) have you given yourself in your life?

Let us know in the comments on this post.

Thanks for joining me for this long update! I am so optimistic for this year, and I'm so happy to share it with you. Have a most wonderful weekend.

xoxo,

Ragon